Cardinals fall to Kent State, drop fifth straight
Inconsistency has proven to be the Ball State field hockey team’s Achilles’ heel all season. It remained true in Saturday’s action against Kent State, where the Cardinals lost 5-2.
“We have highs, and we have to be able to maintain the highs,” said Ball State head coach Beth Maddox.
Kent State, the Mid-American Conference leaders, began with aggression and early scoring. Senior Alyssa McFerren and junior Julia Hofmann led Kent State; both were credited for a goal and an assist, and they kept possession most of the match.
Ball State sophomore Allie White scored two goals unassisted to close the point gap, but Kent State later took a three-point lead. Sophomore Bianca Velez notched her fifth save of the year, preventing the point gap from growing.
“We just need a little more consistency, we’re pretty good at what we do,” White said. “It’s going to take everyone giving 100 percent.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Henley started Saturday’s game, but only saw the first half of action as freshman Jordan Dues got her first minutes in the second half. Henley has given up 25 goals on the season
“We needed to do what was best for us and [Henley] was having a rough first half, so we thought that Jordan’s skill set would really help us and she went out there and did a great job,” Maddox said.
After losing to Kent State, Ball State is 5-9 on the season with a 0-3 MAC record. In order for Ball State to gain entry into the MAC tournament this November, they need to win the next several games. The team’s objective is to win games and keep Central Michigan in the headlights.
Central Michigan holds the fourth and final seed in the standings. One more loss in a conference game for the Cardinals would eliminate them from contention.
Ball State’s will play Ohio State on Oct. 23. The next conference game will be against Ohio University on Oct. 26.
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